The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South

Philip Jenkins

Dec 1, 2006

Series: Volume 10 - 2007

Philip Jenkins, The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible
in the Global South. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. 252 pages
with index.

Philip Jenkins, Distinguished Professor of History and Religious
Studies at Pennsylvania State University, is a prolific author and a
clear, engaging writer who has addressed a host of different topics in
his many books. Recently, however, he has captured the attention of
many evangelicals because of two of his recent works. In 2001 he
published Hidden Gospels, a blistering attack on revisionist
interpretations of Jesus. He convincingly argues that headline-making
scholars of the Jesus Seminar sort traded far more heavily on novelty
and sensationalism than on critical and judicious scholarship. In 2002
he made even more waves with the publication of The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity,
which brought acclaim from many sources, evangelical and otherwise. The
thesis of that book--that Christianity is exploding in unprecedented and
often heterodox ways outside of Europe and North America (that is, in "the global south")--is further elaborated in this fascinating and
important book on how these new expressions of Christianity are
appropriating the Bible for themselves, often apart from Western
influences. Jenkins is a Roman Catholic whose own theological
perspective is fairly muted throughout the book. He writes more as a
chronicler than as a theologian or philosopher, although his own take
on the global south's engagement with Scripture does come to surface in
several places, as I will note below.

Jenkins begins by noting that African Anglicans are far more
conservative than the bulk of their American counterparts. While
American Anglicans (Episcopalians) may tolerate or endorse homosexual
behavior, abortion, and other liberal shibboleths, African Anglicans
take the Bible in a more straightforward way. Bishop Benjamin Nzimbi of
Kenya says, "Our understanding of the Bible is far different from them.
We are two different churches." Generally speaking, those in the global
south--African or otherwise--approach the Bible without the secular
influences that have pressed down on Western forms of Christianity.
These Christians are thus far more open to the supernatural reports of
Scripture--given the spiritual worldview of their native cultures--and
take the Bible to have a supernatural power of its own not often
considered by Western Christians, even of a more conservative bent.

After considering the more conservative theological approach of
Christian movements in the global south in the chapter, "Shall the
Fundamentalists Win?" Jenkins presents chapters on the basic view of
those in the global south on the efficacy of Scripture, the
understanding of the Old Testament in light of the New, the
understanding of poverty and wealth, the engagement of good and evil,
their theology of persecution and vindication, the struggle between
good and evil, and the relationship of women and men. He concludes with
reflections on the global south's understanding of Scripture can
challenge American Christians.

Each chapter is richly illustrated with stories and ideas from
Christians in Africa, South America, Korea, and elsewhere. Jenkins
realizes that he must simplify and generalize considerably to speak of
the global south's take on the Bible, since these many Christians do
not all speak with one voice. However, he does discern common themes
and finds areas in which Western Christians can learn from these other
believers. Jenkins is not romantic in his exposition, however. While
his editorial voice is generally soft, he does highlight areas of
concern for those in the West. For example, a pressing ethical question
for Christians in much of Africa is polygamy. Besides the occasional
headline in the United States about Mormon-influenced polygamists, this
seldom gets our attention, and practically stimulates a protracted
debate. When I participated in an apologetics question-answer session
with a small group at Denver Seminary in 2004, the first question was
asked by a student from Ghana. What should be done with a man who
converts to Christianity who already has several wives? In my many
years of teaching ethics, I had never spoken on that topic and had
never been asked about it. The answer I gave, however, was far
different from that given by many native Africans who read the stories
of the polygamous patriarchs and find justification for polygamy as an ongoing institution. (Jesus speaks against this in Matthew 19:4-6 where he recognizes the monogamy as the original and blessed order of creation.)

While Jenkins seems skeptical of the realities of the demonic and
the need for direct spiritual engagement with these realities, many in
the global south see the situation very differently. In this sense,
they are far closer to a biblical worldview than most American
Christians who somehow read over or relativize the many biblical
passages that speak to the realities of the struggle between the
Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of darkness and which declare the cosmic
victory of Jesus Christ (see Acts 13:1-12; Ephesians 6:10-18;
Colossians 2:13-15, and so on). As Jenkins writes, "precious little is
left of the New Testament after we purge all mention of angels, demons,
and spirits. Shorn of healing and miraculous cures, the four gospels
would be a slim pamphlet indeed" (99). Jenkins reports that one Western
Christian leader was surprised to find that upon his arrival in Africa
he was expected to cast out demons, something with which he had no
familiarity. While Jenkins' handling of this material on the engagement
of the supernatural is uneven (he does not fathom very clearly the
dynamics of the occult world), a reader more deeply rooted in the
inspiration, authority, and inerrancy of Scripture should come away
with a more profound respect for the workings of the spiritual world.

This important book deserves much more discussion, since Jenkins
covers so much ground so provocatively. Jenkins is not, however,
without his faults. For example, he makes several summary statements
about Islam in relation to Christianity that reveal both his lack of
awareness of Islam's utter incompatibility with Christianity and
Islam's intrinsically militant nature. (For a better informed and
insider perspective in Christianity and Islam see Mark Gabriel, Islam and Terrorism
[Lake Mary, FL: Frontline, 2005].) Nevertheless, the book provides a
needful cartography of the new, sprawling, global, Christian landscape.
Given the expansion of Christian faith in the global south and its
waning influence in the West, the global south's perspective on
Scripture should be of central concern to Christians who take the Bible
seriously as the epistemological foundation for their faith. What can
these sisters and brothers teach us? How might we help correct and
instruct them? Where has their interpretation of Scripture fallen prey
to syncretism? Where has ours fallen prey to secularism and its
anti-supernatural prejudices?

Jenkins does not straightforwardly consider the objective authority
and meaning of Scripture, although he mercifully does not adopt a
postmodernist approach that dissolves every text into endless social
contingencies. It is not clear whether he thinks that the Bible has a
determinate meaning that is ascertainable through proper study
(exegesis). However, if this is not the case, the danger is that
Scripture becomes a wax nose that can be twisted into many different
shapes. Scripture itself warns against this (Jeremiah 8:8; Matthew
15:1-4; 2 Peter 3:16). Therefore, in learning how nonwestern Christians
approach the Bible, Western Christians should consider whether their
interpretations and appropriations truly fit the objective meaning of
the text. (On the philosophy of hermeneutics, see William Klein, Craig
Blomberg, and Robert Hubbard, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation: Revised and Expanded.
[Nashville: Nelson Reference, 2004].) This engagement should be neither
a call to unthinking conservatism ("We've got all the truth already,
thank you.") nor to unanchored liberalism ("It's all up for grabs,
since orthodoxy is what you make it."). Rather, as a Puritan of old put
it, "There may yet be more truth to break forth from God's word."
Notice the emphasis on "truth" in that statement. The inspired truth
has always been there; however, it may have gone unrecognized because
of our cultural blinders. However, we will also find errors, ignorance,
and turpitude in the global south, since they, too, "see only a
reflection as in a mirror" (1 Corinthians 13:12). But By considering
how those in the global south are reading, believing, and applying the
Bible, we may be able to find more truth in Scripture than we might
have otherwise. (Consulting the new Africa Bible Commentary,
Tokunboh Adeyemo ed. [Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006], which is
edited and written by Africans with a uniformly high view of the Bible,
can assist us to this end as well.)